GOLF: Two lead field after first day

July 20, 2013|By John Papendick, jpapendick@aberdeennews.com

American News Photo by John Davis

Pro golfers from Arizona and Nebraska tamed Moccasin Creek Country Club Friday in Aberdeen.

Matthew Smith of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Kevin Stanek of Bellevue, Neb., each shot seven unders (65) to take the first-round lead in the three-round, three-day 22nd annual Western Printing Pro-Am. Nick Delio of Valencia, Calif., was third at 67 while three others followed with 69s: Brandon Crick of McCook, Neb.; Kevin Starr of Tulare, Calif.; and Jordan Elsen of Kenosha, Wis.

“I putted great and made a lot of long putts,” Smith said. “I really rolled the rock quite well today. I also had great playing partners and the course was in great shape. I had a lot of fun out there today.”

To keep having fun, Smith said he will need to “keep holing putts.” Smith played with the Watertown trio of Todd Freimark, Jerry Peterson and Jeff Orthaus.

The American News was unable to connect with Stanek Friday night. He played with Mic Daggett of Aberdeen, Ryan Karst of Sioux Falls and Eric Payne of Mina.

Advertisement

A couple of area pros, Travis Slaathaug of Wilmot and Riley O’Neill of Aberdeen, put in a good day of work as well. They were even after the first round with 72s, very much in contention for the $15,000 pro prize.

Today’s schedule

The three-day, 54-hole pro-am in Aberdeen continues today.

There are 50 pro golfers are competing for $68,560. The 150 amateurs are playing for prizes worth more than $20,000.

Tee times today start at 7:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Tonight, there will be a golf derby starting on Hole No. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

On Sunday, there are 8 a.m. shotgun tee times for amateurs and a 1:15 p.m. start time for the top 20 pros — could be more if ties — who survived the cut. The awards ceremony is set after the tourney, approximately 6:30 p.m., at the clubhouse.

U.S. Open qualifier

Dakotas Tour pro golfer Brandon Crick feels good about his game, and he should.

“The last month has been great,” said Crick, a former University of Nebraska golfer from McCook, Neb. “I got off to a good start in the tour and I have been hitting the ball well.”

Crick won the first stop on the 2013 tour, earning $10,500 at The Bluffs in Vermillion. This is his third time golfing in the pro-am in Aberdeen.

“I really enjoy playing in Aberdeen, and Moccasin Creek is one of my favorite stops on the tour,” Crick said. “The course is always in great shape and it is always fun to play.”

He also qualified this summer to golf in the 113th U.S. Open Championship in mid-June at the Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia. There for the first two rounds, he golfed against the world’s best and met golfers like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

“It was a great experience, and I learned a lot from it,” said Crick. “I didn’t play particularly well, and I had trouble off the tee. And that makes it very difficult when you are playing as long of a course as Merion. But I putted and chipped well. If I would have hit the ball better, I would have had a shot at making the cut.”

Crick said playing in front of huge crowds was an amazing feeling.

“I feel like I can really build on that experience and I want to get back there again soon,” Crick said. “To play against the best in the world is what every player on the Dakotas Tour wants to accomplish. It was nice to get a taste of that for a weekend, but in the future, I want to be playing on that stage every weekend.”

Moccasin supporter

When it comes to Moccasin Creek and its annual pro-am, club head golf professional Dean Zahn said he gets great support on hosting the tourney from his teammates at the course, members and sponsors.

And tourney supporters such as Jeff Stockert of Aberdeen can’t seem find enough ways to help. Stockert has been around for all 22 tourneys and has played in most of them, including this year’s event. He volunteers to help out with tourney events, he and his wife open their home to host pros every year, his company is one of the sponsors and he is a board member at the country club.

He loves to promote this tournament and Moccasin Creek. “This is a great opportunity for golfers in this region to play with pros around the country and get to know them,” Stockert said. “Some of these guys will have real success and we will see them on the big tour.”

The pros who have played Moccasin Creek always seem to fondly remember the Aberdeen stop on the Dakotas Tour. “Earlier this year, I had the chance to play in the pro-am at the Colonial PGA tournament (in Fort Worth). When I walked into the clubhouse with my Moccasin Creek shirt on, right away Joe Ogilvie (1996 Moccasin Creek pro-am champ) came up to talk to me.”